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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23307016">Sweet Pea, Apple of My Eye</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_ren/pseuds/rebel_ren'>rebel_ren</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drabbles Against Despair [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Found Family, IKEA Furniture, Magnus Bane &amp; Ragnor Fell Friendship, Warlocks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:49:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23307016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_ren/pseuds/rebel_ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cat's gone into labour early, and Dot has more important things to do than put the last remaining piece of nursery furniture together. To make life a little easier, Magnus offers to help out with that last to-do list item. He drags Ragnor into the fray with him, which should even the odds. One piece of IKEA furniture vs. two warlocks not allowed to use magic. Who will win? Only time will tell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Catarina Loss/Dorothea "Dot" Rollins, Magnus Bane &amp; Catarina Loss, Magnus Bane &amp; Ragnor Fell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drabbles Against Despair [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sweet Pea, Apple of My Eye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Taupe_Fox/gifts">A_Taupe_Fox</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title from Sweet Pea by Amos Lee (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7CMndEuAg">link</a>).</p><p>Prompt (from the lovely Taupe): "Defeating the instructions for building Ikea furniture?"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus sighs and takes a deep breath. “Go through it again,” he says. “One more time.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I <em>told </em>you,” Ragnor says through gritted teeth. “There isn’t. any. more. It just says to use the second from the smallest wrench to tighten the A screws before you tighten the D screws with the <em>actual </em>smallest wrench.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And you’re <em>sure </em>Elias can’t help?” Magnus asks, but he knows the answer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just like the <em>last </em>three times you asked,” Ragnor says, “Elias said that speaking Swedish is exactly <em>zero</em> percent helpful when it comes to deciphering Ikea instructions.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus groans and sits up, leaning back against the wall. “I give up,” he says gloomily.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re not allowed,” Ragnor says, looking equally despondent. He checks his watch and groans. “We only have another hour,” he informs Magnus.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus lets his head fall back against the wall with a thump. “We are <em>so </em>screwed.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ragnor rolls his eyes skyward. “Well, you <em>did </em>volunteer for this, you bloody fool.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean, yeah, but…” Magnus sighs. “I didn’t think it’d be so <em>hard,</em>” he admitted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And <em>why</em> can’t we use magic?” Ragnor asks. (Again.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They’re not sure of the effect on the baby,” Magnus says wearily. (Again.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And that makes it non-negotiable. None of them would do anything to jeopardise the little one’s life or health, no matter how slim the risk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus smiles when he thinks of her, though. He hasn’t even met her yet, but he can’t think of her without his heart overflowing with love. Their little Madzie, tiny and tenacious, brand new yet so, so loved.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cat and Dot had fallen for each other the moment they’d met. Magnus and Ragnor had teased Cat good-naturedly, as they’ve always done. After all, she’s the most level-headed of them all, hardly prone to dreamy, starry-eyed silences up to this point. Dot had changed all that, but in the best possible way. Cat’s softer around Dot, more open, and Dot’s more confident around Cat, more sure of herself.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">One meeting, and their little family had expanded. The trio had become a quartet.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus and Ragnor had been thrilled when Dot and Cat had announced that Cat was pregnant. Magnus had bought every baby outfit that he’d laid eyes on - at least until Cat and Dot had forbidden him to continue his impulse buys. After that, he’d tried to show a modicum of restraint and only get the <em>truly </em>worthwhile baby garments. Sure, some of them the little one wouldn’t be able to wear for years, but better to be prepared, right?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ragnor, on the other hand, had shown his joy in different ways, quietly taking up knitting and then producing a beautiful baby blanket at the baby shower, unbelievably soft and warm with a gorgeous, complex pattern. He’d also begun amassing an extensive library of children’s books, categorised by age. Not all books were considered good enough, however. Ragnor ordered, read, and discarded hundreds for various reasons, only selecting the best of the best for his collection.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suffice to say, they’d all loved Cat and Dot’s little one for months, sight unseen.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Though the pregnancy hadn’t been easy, none of them had expected Cat to go into labour early. Fortunately, everything had gone as well as things could under such circumstances, and early yesterday morning, Madzie had entered the world, premature but healthy.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If she hadn’t decided to make her appearance, Dot would’ve been putting the last piece of baby furniture together today. Naturally, Magnus had volunteered to take that responsibility off her hands.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He had, however, underestimated how insufferably <em>impossible</em> this would be.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is <em>impossible,</em>” Magnus complains.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I wish we could use magic,” he says half-heartedly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magic would make this <em>so </em>much easier, but… when dealing with a premature, half-warlock baby? No one’s entirely sure how it would affect her, so they’ve agreed not to perform magic around her until she’s up to birth weight, then gradually introduce it into her surroundings.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...But I know we can’t,” Magnus says with a sigh.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ragnor comes over and lowers himself to the floor beside Magnus with a sigh. “It’s really bloody hard,” he agrees, but he nudges his shoulder against Magnus’ just a little, and it helps lighten Magnus’ mood.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It also helps Magnus remember the reason they’re doing this.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus smiles at Ragnor. “An hour,” he says, but his voice is softer now. “An hour til they bring her home.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes,” Ragnor says, smiling a little. “An hour to beat this bloody thing… and to make this place ready for her…”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay,” Magnus says, getting up on his knees and starting to arrange the pieces on the floor in order. “Start at the beginning.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Got it,” Ragnor says, getting up to sort through the crumpled papers littering the floor, spreading them out and putting them in order.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It takes fifty-eight minutes and forty-nine seconds, but they manage it. Ragnor is carefully labeling the tools and putting them in the miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen, and Magnus is trying to fit the last of the cardboard into the recycle bin when they hear the garage door opening.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cat walks in, moving slowly and gingerly but otherwise looking like herself. She chuckles when she spots them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You two look like well-behaved children who think they deserve a treat,” she says.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Magnus grins, unable to keep from bouncing a little on his heels. He and Ragnor may have agreed to let the mini family have some time to themselves in the hospital, but he’s <em>barely </em>managed to stay patient enough to observe that agreement. He’s been an absolute wreck since the first phone pictures of a scrunched, bawling face, and he can’t <em>wait </em>to meet her in person.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dot comes in right behind Cat, holding a car carrier and turning to close the door behind her. When she turns to face them, she chuckles too. “All right, all right,” she says, putting a hand on the small of Cat’s back. “Can we take this meet-cute to the living room where we can all be a little more comfortable?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ragnor and Cat head for the living room, Madzie apparently fast asleep in her covered car carrier, and Magnus brings in a few items from the car under Dot’s direction.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As he heads into the living room at last, Magnus is doing his best to be calm. He is also failing completely.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they’re all settled and Dot carefully lifts Madzie out of the carrier, Magnus can’t take his eyes off her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s so <em>little,</em>” he whispers.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a credit to Ragnor that, despite all the baby books he’s read over the past months, he doesn’t tease Magnus or tell him the average sizes (in both inches and centimeters) for premature babies. Of course, that’s mostly because Ragnor can’t look away from Madzie’s face either.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can come closer,” Cat says, smiling at their awe. And they do, Ragnor sitting on one side of Cat while Dot sits on the other. Magnus kneels on the floor in front of her, and for a moment, they just look. And breathe. And feel.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s beautiful, you two,” Ragnor says softly, his voice shaking just a little with emotion.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s a sweet pea,” Magnus says, not trying to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. “The sweetest little pea there ever was.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And as they look, as they feel, as they relax in the moment and the togetherness, their family grows once more, bonding in an entirely new and completely wonderful way.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to prompt me here or on twitter, if you are so inclined :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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